


Tonight

by Shuufleur



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-17 19:10:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15468075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shuufleur/pseuds/Shuufleur
Summary: Clark had been reluctant to go that Charity ball, even if his mother asked him to go with her. But then, he met a certain brown-eyed man, and maybe going to that event wasn't such a waste of time.





	Tonight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [noxelementalist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxelementalist/gifts).



> This was my first time writing Clark and Oliver, so sorry for any OOC-ness.  
> I hope you like it!

Clark sighed, fumbling with his tie. It looked… ok. It was crooked but still, it was around his neck.

“You still don’t know how to tie your own tie?” his mother asked with a smile, entering the room. Clark grimaced and turned to face his mother.

“I don’t understand why I have to go.”

He wasn’t whining, certainly not at his mother. By the smile she was sporting, she thought the contrary.

“Do you have better things to do?” She asked innocently, walking up to him. She unknotted the mess Clark made and restarted the tie from the beginning.

Yes, save people.

“Yes, save people.” He answered truthfully after a beat, remembering his mother knew about his knightly activities.

“I think you can have one evening of peace,” she replied with something resembling a smirk.

“Peace? Here?” he asked incredulously. “Peace? No, this isn’t right. I’d rather try to stop the city from exploding.”

Martha rolled her eyes and patted on the tie perfectly made.

“Come on. It’s only a little party with some of Metropolis richest men and women.”

“That’s what I’m scared about.” Clark grumbled, passing a hand on his tie, then his vest in an attempt to smooth it out.

“It’s for a good cause.” Martha replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not against your code is it, helping children?”

“And you’re sure the money does go to the charities?”

Martha nodded, her smile softening. She looked proud. Clark couldn’t help his own smile from creeping in.

“I personally checked all the charity and the process. And I will check again that everything went to the correct people after the event.”

“Good.”

“Let’s go, shall we?” Martha proposed with a hand gesture to the door.

“You’re beautiful, mom,” Clark said, kissing her on the cheek.

“Thank you, Clark,” his mother replied with a soft smile. “You’re not bad yourself.”

They arrived at Metropolis Hall forty-five minutes later, after being stuck in traffic for the last thirty minutes. They were welcomed with camera flashes and questions from journalists. They entered the immense hall, lavishly decorated from the stairs to the carpets and chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The actual event took place in the ballroom, next to the theater, past the huge doors that were on the far end of the hall.

After leaving their coat to the cloakroom’s clerk, Clark and Martha stepped in the ballroom. In the room, the chandeliers shone like a thousand diamonds. There was a bar on his left, and a buffet on his right. A dozen of bar tables were strategically placed around the bar and the buffet. They had installed a stage where a live band was performing, playing something Clark didn’t recognize. In the center of the room, three glass cases were displayed in a triangular shape. Inside the glass cases were presented expensive jewelry.

Martha tugged discretely his sleeve, telling him to keep walking. For the first thirty minutes, Clark followed his mother around. She introduced him to so many people, Clark’s head swam with the names that he would probably never remember.

At one point, Martha found two women (a judge and the wife of a philanthropist) to discuss policies and other subjects Clark wasn’t keen on. When the conversation kept getting longer, Clark wondered if he could just slip away and hide somewhere a little more private.

Though before he could make his escape, Lionel Luther interrupted them.

“Martha! What a pleasure,” Lionel said, expertly inserting himself between Martha and the two women.

Martha smiled politely, though Clark noticed it was a little stiff.

“Lionel, thank you for coming.”

“You know, I always accept your invitations.”

Lionel’s eyes crinkled with pleasure while he took Martha hand to kiss it. Lionel looked back at Martha, not even acknowledging Clark. He cleared his throat, directing Lionel’s attention on him. He smiled, extending his hand.

“Lionel,” Clark greeted solemnly.

Lionel’s mouth twitched, then shook Clark’s hand. Doing so, he put his other hand on top of Clark’s. The young man smiled insincerely.

“Clark, I didn’t know you would be here. I’m glad you came. You will be the first person to see your mother’s necklace then. Come with me, I’ll show you.”

Lionel smoothly grabbed Martha’s arm and led her towards the center of the room. Clark was almost tempted to leave them alone, knowing his mother could deal with Lionel on her own. But one look from his mother made him groan internally.

Lionel led them to the three glass cases. One housed a gold ring with a diamond on. Next was the smallest diamond earring Clark had even seen. And the final piece was the infamous necklace. Clark didn’t what he had been expecting, but for a jewel coming from Lionel Luther, it was rather simple and elegant. The silver necklace was adorned by a single transparent diamond, its surface so smooth it reflected the light in multicolor. Lionel inserted a key to open one of the glass panels. With careful hands, he lifted the necklace from its display stand. He faced Martha and presented the jewel.

“If you would?” Lionel asked with a smile. Martha’s seemed stunned for a moment, but she recovered quickly and turned around, showing her neck to him. Clark repressed the urge to slap Lionel’s hand away. The man lowered his hands in front of Martha’s face. Clark grinded his teeth when Lionel took his sweet time to clasp the necklace around his mother’s neck. She sent him an emphatic look, telling him not to do anything stupid.

He wanted to roll his eyes. 

“There you go,” Lionel finally announced, his fingers brushing Martha’s neck. She touched the diamond and smiled at Lionel.

“Thank you for letting me borrow it, Lionel.”

“Only for the best woman.”

“It suits you, mom,” Clark said, trying to cut Lionel’s flirting. She smiled more openly and squeezed Clark’s hand. Lionel furrowed his brows, looking behind Clark.

“Will you excuse me, there is something I need to take care of.”

He left them without waiting for an answer. Clark followed him with his eyes until he saw him talking to one of the security guards.

“I know you don’t like him after everything,” Martha suddenly said, making Clark look back at her. “But he’s the one who did all this, so please, just for tonight, try to be the Clark Kent I know.”

She cupped his face to kiss him on the cheek.

“Now, get me a drink. I’ll need it if I have to convince people to give away some of their money.”

Martha patted him on the shoulder, grinning mischievously.

“Alright, mom,” Clark agreed, nodding.

After giving Martha her drink, Clark decided to walk around a little. For the first few minutes, it was fine until Clark started to get restless. He wanted to leave but he knew it was important for his mother that he was here, so he was going to suck it up and suffer through it. At least, people here weren’t actively trying to talk to him.

That’s how two hours later found Clark hiding in a crook on the far side of the room. He might not have been physically with his mother, but he followed with his powers. Which probably why he didn’t see the drunk guy zigzagging and bumping into Clark. The man’s drink sloshed and spilled on Clark’s suit.

“Careful!” Clark scowled. The man looked up and smiled drunkenly at him. Clark couldn’t help but notice he had brown eyes and a nice smile, albeit drunk.

Stop it! Clark thought, chastising himself, now is not the time.

“Hey, sorry,” he slurred, patting Clark awkwardly on the chest. “I didn’t see you there… but maybe I should have, you’re… something else.”

The other smiled appreciatively, raking his eyes over Clark. The young man cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks burn from the attention.

“It’s fine. You didn’t hurt me.”

“I bet. You’re built like a brick house.” The other man let his hand slip on his biceps, squeezing his fingers ever so slightly.

“I… I should go.” Clark said, flustered

He slipped out from the other man’s grasp and went to the bathroom. In front of the mirror, he sighed at the alcohol stain. Clark pulled his shirt to sniff it. Wait, Clark thought, frowning, it wasn’t alcohol, it was just apple juice.

The man was pretending to be drunk. Why?

Curiosity taking the better of him, Clark put a little water on the apple juice stain and hid the water stain with the lapel of his jacket. He left the bathroom and started to look for the other man. The first few minutes were fruitless. Clark was surprised to see so many tall white men with blond hair and brown eyes. When he finally found him, the other man was currently talking to his mother.

He approached them from behind the man. His mother noticed him first and beamed at him.

“Clark,” She said, grabbing his arm, “May I introduce you to Mr. Oliver Queen, CEO of Queen Industries and generous donator.”

Oliver Queen turned to him and presented his hand.

“Hi, Clark, I’m glad to finally meet Senator Kent’s son. I heard so much about you.”

He winked, letting a smirk stretched his mouth.  Being so close, Martha saw that and was watching Clark closely so he kept the quip he wanted to say.

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Queen.” Clark greeted, shaking his hand.

“Please, call me Oliver.”

Was it Clark or did Oliver just brushed his fingers against the palm of his hand? The young man felt his cheeks warm up and hoped his mother wouldn’t comment on it.

Though, Oliver seemed ready to do it instead. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by a voice.

“Martha!”

They all turned to see Lionel Luther making his way to them. Clark scowled and crossed his arms. He felt Oliver’s gaze on him before his attention went back to the newcomer. Lionel glanced at Oliver Queen, a calculating glint his eyes, before addressing Martha.

“I’m sorry Clark, but I need to borrow your mother for a few moments. I’ve been conversing with someone willing to donate quite a sum of money.”

“That’s wonderful,” Martha commented. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Queen, and I hope I will see you again. Clark,” she walked to him and kissed him the cheek before whispering to his ear, “thank you for coming, you can go home if you want.”

Clark nodded absentmindedly. He knew his mother could take care of herself, but it didn’t mean he felt comfortable leaving her alone with a Luthor.

He smiled and led Martha away, a hand on her back.

“You don’t like Lionel Luther.”

Clark faced the other man, shrugging.

“I like him just fine.”

Oliver threw him an unconvinced look but didn’t comment on it.

“Why are you still here? I thought you’d be gone by now.”

Oliver put a hand on his heart, pretending to be hurt.

“Ouch.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Clark said apologetically.

Oliver chuckled.

“It’s fine. At least, I can say my evening has considerably improved.”

He winked seductively at Clark and he couldn’t help but feel flattered and embarrassed at the same time.

Feeling bold, Clark asked, “It that why you pretended to be drunk?”

Oliver eyes crinkled with pleasure.

“You think this was a ploy to talk to you? How have been people flirting with you if you think that?”

Clark pressed his lips into a thin line, trying to repress a smile. He wasn’t successful by Oliver’s expression.

“Why pretend, then?” Clark continued, hoping Oliver would stop looking at him like _that._ “I mean, if you really wanted to talk to me, you could have just… struck a conversation like people do usually.”

Oliver’s eyes flickered away, a slight expression of unease on his face. Then his eyes came back to Clark with something he couldn’t decipher.

Maybe Clark had gone too far with this question. He was going to say that he didn’t have to answer but Queen beat him to the bush.

“I hadn’t actually meant to spill my drink on you. I don’t know… people are used to me being drunk, and I guess it’s easier to conform to people’s expectation rather than…” Oliver trailed off, shrugging, his mouth curving down.

Furrowing his brows, Clark took a step closer, his lightly raised in a gesture of comfort. He stopped himself before he could touch Oliver’s shoulder when the other man noticed it. Clark let his arm fell and hid his embarrassment behind a small smile.

“Hey, so,” Queen said again, a brush on Clark’s arm, “I came and talked to enough people so that they say I was there, what do you say we leave?”

“To-together?” Clark asked, stumbling on the word.

Oliver’s leering expression softened.

“Only if you want to.”

“I…”

He bit his lips, thinking about it. Sure, Oliver was a seductive man and maybe, this was a side of him Clark had kept under wraps. But he couldn’t deny feeling the thrill of the unknown when he thought about leaving with Oliver.

“Look,” Oliver said, breaking Clark from his thoughts. “I’ll get my coat and wait for you outside. If I don’t see you in…” Oliver looked at his watch, but Clark offered before he could decide a time.

“10 minutes.”

Oliver looked up, pleasantly surprised.

“10 minutes then.”

With a nod, Oliver quickly made his way through the crowd. Clark exhaled and tried to calm his nerves. He was doing this apparently. Before leaving, Clark went to find his mother to tell her he was going home, even if home might not be Smallville. Then, he went to the cloakroom and waiting to get his coat back, which took more time than he would have liked.

Once out, Clark sighed in relief when the fresh hit his warm skin. His shoulders slumped a little, his body relaxing. He hadn’t even realized how tense he had been all evening. He looked around but apart from a few paparazzi who were waiting anyone more famous than Clark, Oliver was nowhere to be seen.

As a sliver of disappointment seeped in, Clark was going to go home when he heard scuffles on the other side of the building. It was the raised voices that made Clark move faster. He rose his eyebrows when he saw the scene. Lionel had raised a hand and was ready to hit Oliver. Clark clenched his jaw and strode in.

“Lionel!” he shouted, startling both men. “What are you doing?”

Lionel lowered his hand, though he continued scowling.

“Clark, this doesn’t concern you.”

“It does when you’re ready to hit someone.”

Lionel pursued his lips and Oliver looked at him with curious eyes. The older man sighed, his shoulders dropping.

“Clark, please. I… I wasn’t going to…”

“Hit me?” The bond man interjected, smug. “Because I think Clark saw you ready to slap me.”

Lionel glared at Oliver, a look that sent chills down Clark’s back. It was the look that promised murder.

“Lionel, please go.” Clark insisted, now fearing for Oliver’s life.

“Clark, you don’t know…”

“Please,” Clark interrupted. “It’ll be fine.”

Lionel worked his jaw, still glaring rather intensely at Olive. He looked back at Clark, and finally seemed to relent.

“Alright. I trust you, Clark.” Lionel said with a fatherly tone, making Clark uncomfortable. “Be careful with this one. He’s not who he says he is.”

With one last glare, Lionel walked away as regal as ever. Once Lionel was out of view and earshot, Clark focused back on the other man.

“So, you’re now my knight in shining armor.” Oliver commented with a twist of lips. “Can’t say that I mind.”

His eyes raked over Clark who once again felt his cheeks warm.

“What did Lionel want?” he asked to divert the conversation.

Oliver sighed, dropping the façade. He shrugged, strolling to Clark.

“He and I are business competitors and he didn’t really like my last … business action. It’s fine.”

Oliver passed his tongue on lips, more a reflex than a real intent of flirting. That was probably the first sign of nervousness Clark had seen on him since they met. He had seemed so composed, it was funny to him lose a little of his confidence when they were alone.

“So, you came.”

Clark lowered his head slightly to hide his smile.

“I did.”

“What now?” Oliver asked, teeth biting his lower lip. Clark chuckled. He stepped closer, raising his hands to brush Oliver’s cheek with the back on his fingers. For a moment, the other man seemed taken aback by Clark’s forward gesture, but he caught himself and smirked.

“Oh, I see,” he whispered, lifting his chin and stopping a few inches before Clark’s mouth. “What now?” Clark smiled and closed his eyes as he closed the distance between them. Oliver’s breath hitched. He opened his lips, allowing Clark to deepen the kiss.

Oliver was the first one to pull away, breathless, mirth and desire twinkling in his eyes. Clark was breathless too but not for the lack of oxygen.

“What do you say we take this some place more private?” Oliver asked, passing his hands over Clark’s shoulders, down his arm and to his hands.

“Yes,” Clark agreed in a whisper.

Oliver’s smile widened, pleased, and Clark found himself not at all regretting coming to this event.


End file.
